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Companies may invest $43 million and create 210 jobs

The Garrison family land that was once an apple orchard and more recently used for the sale of mulch and fill dirt could become home to a factory employing 150 people if the Henderson County Board of Commissioners OKs economic development incentives.

By Lightning Reports, Published: November 3, 2020

New employers could invest a total of $43 million and create 210 jobs if the Henderson County Board of Commissioners authorizes economic development incentives totaling $1,096,000 over five years later this month.

The Board of Commissioners set a public hearing for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, for the economic development incentives. Both companies "have requested to remain anonymous at this time due to competitive pressures," Henderson County's legal office said in a public notice advertising the hearing.

The first project, code-named Project Wheel, would involve a $38 million investment to build and machinery and other equipment in a new plant in the Upward community. The company said it would hire 150 people at an average wage of $39,867 plus benefits, which the county said is above the median wage.

The company is a United States-based corporation contemplating a new plant site in Henderson County. The incentives would amount to $13,464 the first year, based on the new investment, the number of new employees and the county’s incentives guidelines, and total up to $981,750 over five years.

Under the project as proposed, Project Wheel would invest at least $17 million to build a plant (not including land acquisition costs) and not less than $21 million in equipment. The project would result in the creation of 150 new jobs, at an average wage of $39,867 which is in excess of the median wage in Henderson County for full-time employment, plus other benefits.

Two companion agreements involving the city of Hendersonville and the Partnership for Economic Development would help the company buy land in a larger 41.4-acre tract on Crest Road and Commercial Boulevard. Under the agreement, the Economic Investment Fund of Henderson County, a nonprofit organization formed by the Partnership, would subject the property "to uses that are consistent with the County’s economic development policies and guidelines."

The terms would require a net investment by the county and city of approximately $470,000 each as a loan to EIF. The EIF would also borrow $1,170,000 each from of the city and Henderson County for a total of $2,340,000. The property would be subdivided as an industrial subdivision. The county and EIF would then convey a piece of the land for the Project Wheel plant. The company would repay the city and county all but the $470,000. The county and the city would jointly hold a lien on the property to guarantee payment of the loan balance.

In the second industrial recruitment, a company code-named Project Helios, a manufacturing company considering a new operation in Henderson County, would invest $150,000 in real property improvemnets and $5 million in equipment for a plant that would employ 60 people at $65,000 a year plus benefits. The first year’s incentive, if granted, would be up to $17,671, and over period five years would be $114,404 provided the company met job creation, pay and other guidelines spelled out in the county economic development policies. The legal notice advertising the public hearing did not disclose the location of the plant.